Unemployment Benefits: Do I Report 1099 Earnings During an Unemployment Claim

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Do I Report 1099 Earnings During an Unemployment Claim

My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: California

As a classical musician, much of my income is of the independent contractor variety. I do work as an employee for two large opera houses, and as a seasonal worker filed for unemployment this year (for the first time). I recently sang a role for which I was paid as an independent contractor. It seems reasonable that I should report this income, but got curious at the repeated use of the word "employer" in the paperwork. Do I need to report this money?

Re: Do I Report 1099 Earnings During an Unemployment Claim

Don't ask me why.

But I have a regular, weekly 1099 income from a column that I write. Last year my contracts did not flow precisely from one to another and I was collecting unemployment for a couple of months. When I opened the claim, the intake person asked if I had any other income. I said, "Does 1099 income count?" She said, No.

Re: Do I Report 1099 Earnings During an Unemployment Claim

What I understand is that you don't list contract work as employment when opening a claim because those earnings don't count toward qualifying for UI.

When filing weekly continued claim forms, you report ALL earnings for the week, including this. Your benefit will be reduced based on ANY earnings.

You also report it for tax purposes, of course.

So, you don't HIDE it, you just don't count it towards your base earnings that are used to calculate your award of UI.

Does that make sense?

I don't know of any state anymore that you need to tell the UI office who you worked for or your income. All of them I know of have that info available and they research it and tell YOU what you earned.

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